UND Women’s Basketball Falls to 0-2 on the Season

Lost to Montana State 84-72 in Bozeman

BOZEMAN, Mont. – (UND Athletics) Suffering a season-ending injury in the preseason last year, Juliet Gordon spent the past year rehabilitating an injury while cheering her team on from the sideline. 94 weeks removed from her last appearance at Purdue Fort Wayne, Gordon led a comeback effort for the University of North Dakota, who fell to Montana State in their road opener, 84-72.

The Adelaide, South Australia, Australia native closed the evening with a UND-best 18 points, entering the contest a career-high of three points from Feb. 9, 2019, at South Dakota State. Megan Zander added 12 points from the bench while Julia Fleecs tallied her first double-double of the season with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks.

North Dakota made the trip with a nearly full roster as 11 players saw action on the night as its three additional players – Gordon, Melissa Leet, and Claire Orth – combined for 33 points as Orth scored all nine of her points in the second half to assist in Gordon’s rally charge.

The Bobcats lived by the three-ball in the first half, hitting 10 three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. While their range game shined, the North Dakota defense did not allow MSU into the paint for the opening 16:10 of the half when Montana State made its first layup.

Coming off the bench in Bozeman, Zander was a spark plug for North Dakota, quickly scoring seven points in the first quarter. By the half, Zander had reached double figures with 10 points with three baskets, three free throws, and a trey.

With Leet back in the lineup, Fleecs transitioned back to her standard power forward position, adding nine points and seven rebounds. The Fighting Hawks took advantage of their added size as they outrebounded the Bobcats, 26-25.

After Montana State took a 21-point lead in the third, North Dakota rallied to within 14 at the end of the third quarter as Gordon started the Fighting Hawks rally. The redshirt sophomore, who scored five points in the opening half, came alive in the second as she scored 13 of her 18 points in the second half of play, going 7-of-10 from the field.

Gordon drove to the paint for a layup with three minutes remaining and kissed the ball off the backboard and through the net to lift North to Dakota to within seven points, 74-67, and force Montana State to call a timeout. However, the Bobcats settled themselves and stymied the Fighting Hawks comeback, closing the night with a 10-5 run.

Montana State bombed 40 of their 70 field goal attempts from behind the arc, knocking down 14 of those attempts.

North Dakota will return to action tomorrow night Dec. 7, when it takes on the University of Montana in Missoula. The game will tip at 4 p.m. Central time on PlutoTV, channel 1056.